Letter writer responds to accusations

This is in response to the Sept. 18 letter “Meeting became a platform for accusations” singed by “Gerald Dix, Caledonia.”

He was upset that a few people from Winona showed up for a public meeting sponsored by Minnesota Sands, a recently formed company that endeavors to begin mining frac sand in Houston County.

“Why was it necessary for them to bring in outsiders? The most obnoxious person there doesn’t live in Houston County,” he wrote.

I did a little checking because the last name, Dix, didn’t sound familiar. It turns out that there is no Gerald Dix listed in the Caledonia phone book nor is there one in the “Farm & Home Plat & Directory” for Houston County.

So, I went on-line and found a site that listed seven of them. They were from Virginia, New Jersey, Colorado, London and Liverpool, England, a WWII vet who may or may not still be alive and one from Preston. Preston is very close, but it’s still not Caledonia and it’s in Fillmore, not Houston County.

I could be wrong, but the evidence suggests that Mr. Dix himself was one of the “outsiders” he condemned in his Sept. 18 letter.

Perhaps the mysterious Mr. Dix is less concerned about “outsiders” than he is with a group of concerned citizens who have informed themselves on the subject of frac sand mining and who had the audacity to challenge pro-industry propaganda at a public meeting.

As for “obnoxious,” it was a pro-mining individual who reportedly crumpled up an anti-mining brochure and threw it at another person.